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A whole host of West Ham United fans took to social media on Saturday afternoon to lavish praise on Robert Snodgrass for his performance against Sheffield United.

The 32-year-old made the breakthrough in the 44th minute of the Premier League affair before Lys Mousset struck in the second half as the points were shared.

Snodgrass was a late, late substitute in his team’s 2-0 win over Manchester United on September 22, but the midfielder was not actually used at all against Bournemouth, Crystal Palace or Everton.

Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini shuffled his pack for the clash with Sheffield United, though, and Snodgrass started with Manuel Lanzini and Pablo Fornals on the bench.

It was just the 28-time Scotland international’s second Premier League start of the 2019/20 campaign.

And there is no question that he made a positive impression – boasting a 86% pass success rate, according to WhoScored.

Watch West Ham United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

A selection of the Twitter reaction to Snodgrass’ outing at the London Stadium can be seen below:

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

As quoted by the club’s official website, Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has delivered a hugely encouraging verdict on his partnership with Daniel James.

What did he say?

The pair were used as a strike duo in the clash against Liverpool, and it was James’ cross from the right-hand side that led to Rashford scoring the opening goal of the contest.

Speaking after the game, the latter gave a bit of an insight as to the kind of on-pitch relationship the duo had during the game, and hinted that there is more to come.

Watch the video below to see the most insane overhead kick you will see this week…

He said: “We had a bit of eye contact before. These are the fine margins we’re working with, so probably without looking at each other and getting that little connection we wouldn’t have got the goal. Instead, you’d miss which has happened a lot in the past. So yeah, it was a good goal, but we definitely want more.”

Partnership

Having been the topic of hot conversation for such a long time, Rashford has enjoyed a very fine week by his standards. After scoring a superb goal for England against Bulgaria whilst on international duty, the 21-year-old returned to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon against Liverpool and netted once more.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Whilst the Red Devils star can quite rightly be happy with his performance, it was his on-pitch relationship with James that really gives Ole Gunnar Solskjaer something to ponder about. The duo performed admirably at the top of United’s attack, causing all sorts of problems with their pace and movement in behind the Reds’ defence.

Goals have been hard to come by for United this season – they have now scored just ten times from their opening nine Premier League games – and it could prove crucial that their main men up top strike up a telepathic understanding. If Rashford and James can feed off each other, and compliment the other’s skills, then the Red Devils may have an intriguing solution to their goal-scoring worries.

Normally when Juventus only win a game 2-1 against a side such as mid-table Bologna, an attacker who hasn’t registered a goal or an assist wouldn’t be worthy of being the ‘unsung hero’ of the week.

However, it was Gonzalo Higuain’s impressive performance that went under the radar.

The 31-year-old Argentinian is known for his great finishing ability, but he wasn’t able to convert any of the five shots he had in the game, with three being on target – the joint-most in the match – and the other two being blocked (WhoScored).

Higuain’s link-up play was also impressive. The forward made 34 passes overall with a success rate of 88 per cent, as well as making two key passes in the game, which helped contribute to Juve’s domination of the ball, with the Old Lady having 65% of possession (ESPN).

It wasn’t just WhoScored that recognised Higuain had a really polished match, with 90Min giving the forward a healthy 8/10 for his match against Bologna – only being matched by Gianluigi Buffon and Cristiano Ronaldo – while Miralem Pjanic went one better with 9/10 to win the outlet’s Man of the Match award.

While it is hard to imagine whether Juventus would have been better off starting Paulo Dybala after his good start to the season (with an average rating in Serie A of 7.1 so far this year from WhoScored), Higuain showed just why Maurizio Sarri is using him by putting in a well-rounded performance which helped his side win the three points.

It was far from a classic performance from the Argentinian, but he was still able to register a lot of shots and pop up in the right spaces, as well as make a lot of runs which created space for the other creative players within this Juve team.

Juventus fans, are Higuain’s performances going underrated? Let us know in the comments below!

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies…

Wolves have seemingly found their feet at long last as they head into the international break on the back of three consecutive victories in all competitions.

Last time out, Nuno Santo’s men recorded the surprising scalp of reigning Premier League champions Manchester City to sink them further behind league leaders Liverpool.

While the west Midlands club themselves moved up to 11th in the table, so maybe the short interval from the domestic season comes at the worst possible time.

One Wolves fan thinks he’s pinpointed the moment when they went from EPL strugglers to “peak Barcelona 2011” in the video below…

Though, it does seem an excellent opportunity to delve into the club a little further to take a look at the next crop of youngsters that could stake a claim at Molineux in the future.

Just this week, the Guardian selected the ‘best young players’ at each club who were born between September 2002 and August 2003.

The ‘Generation Z’ talent they have picked for Wolves is Chem Campbell, who has been at the club since he was 12.

Campbell is a Wales youth international, having been capped three times for the U17s.

Watch Wolverhampton Wanderers Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The 16-year-old’s potential has certainly already caught the eye of the Portuguese boss as he was invited on the senior team’s pre-season training camp.

He is described as a ‘skilful, direct dribbler with a knack for bursting forward from central midfield’ which makes it easy to understand why Nuno wanted to take a look at him during the off-season.

Given the reports surrounding a potential exit for Ruben Neves this week, Wolves could well be in need of a midfield option, and even though it remains unlikely that someone of his age gets fast-tracked into the starting XI, movement from those above him in the pecking order could mean he is pushed closer to that chance.

There’s also the age of Joao Moutinho to consider too.

At 33 he is entering the twilight of his career, and it’s hard to predict how long he will last at the top of his game. While he may replicate the likes of Iniesta and Xavi in terms of playing on, he could quite easily be overrun by fitter and younger opposition as he gets even older.

Campbell edging towards the senior fold would even match the ambitions of the club’s owners Fosun, who want the club to start providing from within. That’s slowly starting to pay dividends as seen with Morgan Gibbs-White over the past 18 months, the midfielder has gone on to play 63 times for the old gold.

Having scored four times for the U18s and subsequently moved into the U23 squad since, the teenager could easily follow suit in due course, especially with potential gaps opening in midfield. It’s now over to Nuno to find room for him to get a chance.

Taking to Twitter, reporter Ekrem Konur has lifted the lid on an exciting development out of Parkhead involving Celtic defender Anthony Ralston.

The Lowdown: Ralston impresses…

It’s safe to say the Hoops hot shot has enjoyed a fine start to 2021/2022 and is turning many heads.

Indeed, the 22-year-old has been praised for his resurgence after being out for a while and it appears Ralston has been one of Celtic’s more impressive players.

Starting seven SPFL matches already, his two goals and an assist from out wide, as well as a strike in the Europa League, highlight just how brilliant he has been considering he is a right-back (WhoScored).

The Latest: Konur drops exciting claim…

As per Konur, an exciting Ralston development has now come out of Parkhead.

The journalist says Celtic are now in negotiations to extend his current deal as Ange eyes a contract boost for his new club.

“Celtic have begun talks to extend Anthony Ralston’s contract,” he explained on social media.

The Verdict: Boost for the Bhoys incoming?

Depending on developments, Ralston potentially signing a new deal will come as a further boost for Ange amid reports of some serious moves in the transfer market ahead of January.

If the Hoops are to regain dominance of the SPFL from arch rivals Rangers, they will need all the help they can get in future seasons and Ralston may well play a big part.

In other news: Celtic ‘step up efforts’ to sign ‘another’ star for Ange in ‘stone cold killer’, find out more here.

Southampton have a number of players in their senior squad at the moment who have come through the club’s youth system such as James Ward-Prowse, Theo Walcott and Nathan Tella among others.

One other example is defender Jack Stephens who has made 139 senior appearances for the Saints after working his way through their youth system, scoring six goals and providing five assists in the process.

Stephens had played every minute of Premier League action for Southampton so far this season before he, unfortunately, suffered a fairly serious knee injury during their 0-0 draw against Manchester City back in September that has ruled him out for 12 weeks.

Looking ahead to the future and which current young players in Southampton’s youth ranks could potentially go on to become the next first-team star at St. Mary’s, we feel that 17-year-old defender Lewis Payne could be somebody who replicates Stephens’ success.

As a product of the club’s youth academy, Payne has gone on to make 23 appearances for Southampton’s U18 side in which he has netted one goal and provided two assists as well as making 14 appearances for the club’s B team, the latest of which came on Sunday afternoon when he found the net twice.

So far this season, Payne has played 90 minutes in all but one of the Southampton B team’s first eight league games of the season, not only showing how important is to their side but also how much of a versatile player he is considering he’s played at left-back, right-back, defensive-midfield, right-midfield and centre-back in this campaign.

Only winger Kazeem Olaigbe and fellow centre-back Dynel Simeu have played more minutes for Southampton’s B team so far this season according to Transfermarkt.

If Payne continues playing regularly for Saints’ B team and proving himself as a useful and versatile figure for them, we feel he has what it takes to eventually make his senior debut for the south coast side and possibly become a regular figure for them as a potential long-term replacement for Stephens given he’s Southampton’s oldest current defender.

In other news: Ralph must wield the axe on £10.8m-rated Saints ace with 55% pass accuracy v Watford – opinion

Many Liverpool fans have been slamming the display of Jordan Henderson in the first half of their game against Manchester City in the Premier League.

The former Sunderland man was guilty of misplacing a number of his crosses in and around the box when in good positions, and also struggled to cope with the pace of City’s counterattacks.

He also lost the ball in the middle of the park on far too many occasions, one of which led to a great chance for Phil Foden, who probably should have scored but in the end forced a save from Alisson.

As the captain, Henderson will need to brush off his first half performance and try to galvanise his troops for the second half against the reigning champions.

Liverpool fans on Henderson display

These Liverpool supporters on Twitter slammed Henderson’s performance, with one Kopite even going as far as to claim that he has been a ‘liability’:

“Henderson is quite annoying! His passes annoying”

Credit: @Sollynatey

“Henderson with these useless inaccurate long balls, no composure at all”

Credit: @rl__rn

“Henderson playing rubbish”

Credit: @chibix12

“Man Henderson is so slow to get back to cover that right flank”

Credit: @udiyavar

“This midfield is nada and that’s almost entirely down to Henderson. He’s a liability now, much like Gerrard became in his final couple of seasons.”

Credit: @appaesthetic

“Henderson is terrible”

Credit: @M103765261

In other news, find out what Mohamed Salah update has had many Kopites talking

Aston Villa confirmed on Monday that a road at Bodymoor Heath will be permanently named Withe Way following an $AVL Fan Token vote.

And a number of Villa supporters have been reacting to the news on social media.

Villa revealed details regarding the launch of the $AVL Fan Token last month, with fans offered the opportunity to vote for a road name at Bodymoor Heath in celebration of the club’s 40th anniversary of the 1982 European Cup Win.

Season ticket holders and members were entitled to receive a free token, whereas it would cost others £2 to get involved.

The choices were Withe Way, Mortimer Avenue and Rotterdam Lane, with Withe Way winning in reference to the match-winner Peter Withe.

Villa fans react

Villa shared the news regarding the winner of the fan vote on their official Twitter page.

This is what these Villa fans had to say in reply, with a mixed response and one calling it ‘crazy’.

“Wow I’m sure the three currency speculators who voted are really pleased with their decision. Just cancel this total disgrace of a partnership”

Credit: @dvtavfc

“Erm”

Credit: @LeoAVFC82

“Crazy that the man who nearly missed the tap in reaps the rewards”

Credit: @EllisHines27

“Didn’t realise one player won the trophy.”

Credit: @LeeJClark76

“Love it.”

Credit: @MemoryL66809557

“Rotterdam Way is so much better than the winning name.”

Credit: @IngeniousVillan

In other news: Villa now ‘in the queue’ to sign £14.4m-rated striker; he wants to leave. 

Tottenham Hotspur have been handed another injury setback as their quest to go one better in the Carabao Cup gets underway this evening…

What’s the latest?

Nuno Santo and his side head to his old stomping ground, Molineux, to face Wolverhampton Wanderers for the second time in a month but he will do so without one of his key first-team stars.

Brazilian winger Lucas Moura has been ruled out for the EFL Cup clash and is even doubtful for this weekend’s north London derby, handing the Portuguese head coach a fresh and massive blow.

That’s according to The Athletic, who have provided an update on the 29-year-old and his current situation.

Moura was withdrawn during Spurs’ 2-2 draw with Rennes in the UEFA Europa Conference League last week and then missed Sunday’s league defeat to local rivals Chelsea.

Speaking to reporters ahead of kick-off, Nuno said: “Unfortunately they [Moura and Steven Bergwijn] will not be with us.”

Another setback

The £22.5m-rated dynamo was certainly in contention to not only start tonight but also against the Gunners this weekend.

Once described as “a nightmare” to train against by centre-back and teammate Eric Dier, Moura would have provided pace and directness to Nuno’s attack, something that he is in desperate need for with his Spurs side sat rock-bottom of the xG charts.

He has started three of four Premier League appearances so far this campaign, so his absence – along with the blow to Bergwijn – certainly leaves the Portuguese manager a little light on options.

It also massively dents his choices from the bench, particularly when he needs to turn to someone to change a game and a player like Moura can certainly do that with the qualities he has on offer.

Currently, WhoScored rank the Brazil international as Spurs’ best-rated player for the season (7.09) – even ahead of top goalscorer Heung-min Son and the industrious Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, which only emphasises his importance to Nuno.

Moura has contributed at either end of the pitch, averaging 2.3 tackles, 2.5 dribbles and 1.5 shots per game, via WhoScored, proving to be a tireless player on that right flank.

On the above evidence, Nuno will be gutted by this latest setback, especially with other first-team stars like Bergwijn and Ryan Sessegnon also on the treatment table.

AND in other news, Nuno must axe “phenomenal” £26m-rated Spurs dud tonight, he’s been shocking for months…

Speaking to Football Insider, a West Ham United source has shared some potentially big news, news with manager David Moyes already eyeing a move in January for Jesse Lingard.

The Lowdown: West Ham hope for Lingard?

The 28-year-old, who enjoyed a phenomenal loan stint at the London Stadium last season, was on West Ham’s radar throughout the summer transfer window.

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The Irons fell short in their attempts to prise him away from Manchester United once again, but in recent days there has been sprinkles of hope over a winter swoop.

The Evening Standard first reported this week that West Ham’s manager has considered a return for the England international dependent on his game-time for the Red Devils and new signing Nikola Vlasic’s form.

This comes amid his rejection of a new deal at Old Trafford as Football Insider share more news on Lingard.

The Latest: Moyes already eyeing Lingard…

As per a West Ham source speaking to Football Insider, the England international remains on Moyes’ radar and a winter window move is possible.

It is also thought that the Irons will ‘maintain a dialogue’ over a possible swoop for Lingard in January with talks set to continue ‘behind the scenes’ with his entourage.

Apparently, the club are even open to various types of deals, including a loan-to-buy and possible permanent move.

The Verdict: Good move?

Much will depend on Vlasic’s form for the Hammers to make a judgement on whether or not this would end up being a good move.

Lauded as ‘unbelievable’ for his time at West Ham by pundit Alan Hutton, seeing Lingard return to the London Stadium was a far more enticing prospect three months ago.

The signing of Vlasic, who averaged an incredible four shots on goal per game in the Russian Premier League last season, arguably dampens the excitement surrounding a possible return for Lingard.

In other news: Agent lifts lid on West Ham interest in 63-goal striker, makes deadline day claim… find out more here.